Not kidding. Unless we're making a caprese or a B.L.T., we're using canned tomatoes. Here's why we love them.

I haven’t cooked a fresh tomato in a very long time. You know why? Because if you’re making anything other than a caprese salad, whole, fresh tomatoes are an inferior product. That's right: 99% of the time, canned tomatoes are better than fresh. That’s the truth.

Now, let’s get something out of the way before I dive any deeper into this. Like I said, I’m talking about cooking tomatoes. I wouldn’t serve canned tomatoes in a salad. And I’m also talking about standard-sized tomatoes. I like fresh cherry tomatoes, especially with a ton of butter, garlic, and pasta. And if it’s August, at the height of tomato season, and for whatever reason I have a ton lying around that aren't destined for B.L.T.s and tomato salads, maybe I’ll cook some fresh ones. Maybe.

But for me, pasta sauces (whether it’s a quick-cooking or all-day situation), meaty braises, stews, and pizza sauces should always be made with canned tomatoes. One reason is that canned tomatoes always have a bit of salt (and preferably only salt) added to the tomatoes before they get canned. This amplifies all of that beautiful tomato flavor.

Marcus Nilsson

This is where canned tomatoes belong. You too.

Speaking of beautiful tomato flavor, you’re going to get that consistently in canned tomatoes, since they’re preserved at the height of tomato season. A sauce is going to be better with in-season, vine-ripe tomatoes. Risking the success of a sauce on the flavor of a “I don’t know, I think it’s probably still fine in October,” type tomato is not a bet worth taking. If there’s one thing you need to know about supermarket tomatoes outside of August and its surrounding weeks, it’s that you shouldn’t buy them.

And as advertised, whole peeled tomatoes are peeled. There’s no skin on these guys, which means no weird, curly spears of tomato poking out of your pasta. Yeah, those strange, paper-like sticks that appear in pasta sauce? That’s the skin of a fresh tomato, all curled up. Those things are annoying. No, thanks. Don’t need them.

Just because I love canned tomatoes doesn’t mean I love all canned tomatoes. Pizza is a beautiful thing. Barbecue is a beautiful thing. But there are still terrible versions of both. The same goes for canned tomatoes, so picking a high-quality product is important. I always prefer Jersey Fresh or Sclafani tomatoes, because I think they taste fantastic and know that there’s only tomatoes and salt in those cans. And for the love of all that is holy, NEVER buy those weird, already-diced tomatoes in a can. Weird chemicals get added to those things to help the chunks keep their shape, which is gross because a) you don't need those chemicals in your sauce and b) they don't break down in sauces as well. Whole canned tomatoes, forever and always.

There’s really only one drawback to canned tomatoes, and that’s the juice that sprays everywhere when you crush them. Don’t worry though. I solved that for you too. I’m just trying to make it as easy as possible for you to thrive. And in this scenario, thriving is living a life filled with beautiful, flavorful sauces. Made from canned tomatoes, of course.